For an introduction to cosmology and the Hot Big Bang, see:

• Cosmology Basics
• CMB formation

I’m currently working on two projects to measure the properties of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB):

• Spider – A balloon-borne instrument that will fly in December, 2014, to measure the Inflation-generated gravitational-wave signal in the CMB polarization.
• South Pole Telescope – A 10m telescope at the South Pole that we use to measure the properties of the CMB (particularly at small angular scales, and now with polarization sensitivity).